Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[BonTexasNY]

9 hours ago, George C said:

We are looking forward to our first cruise in about 5 years from Galveston, saving us lots of money on airfare we will most likely still fly but it will be a cheaper flight, our cruise will be on Harmony which replaces allure in November, going the week after thanksgiving again. I was going to use Lyft I knew Uber wasn’t allowed. We are in suite so we will be walked off by concierge. Wonder if limo is allowed, I am sure we will fly into hobby. 

Our debarkation was flawless.  We were off the ship in record time.  It was after we exited the terminal that we encountered problems with pick-up.

9 hours ago, brillohead said:

I've heard this discussed (and that it's the Port Authority, not Royal, who has the agreement with Lyft), but I found NOTHING to confirm it both coming and going.

I didn't see any signage or anyone stopping my Uber from dropping me off at the terminal, nor did I have a problem getting picked up by an Uber at disembarkation.  I had a ride pre-scheduled for 9am and he was probably ten minutes early.  

The only issue I had was with the signage at the terminal -- as I exited, the big sign overhead said "<--- Ride Share" (or similar, but definitely pointing LEFT), and the employee standing directly underneath the sign was hollering that Uber/Lyft was to the RIGHT.  I specifically asked him why the sign pointed left and he was directing us right, and he was totally unaware that the sign that was directly above him pointed in the other direction.  

My driver called me just as I exited the building, and I had to go around the corner (to the right, in spite of the signage) and then I could see the numbered areas and told him I'd be between Pink 4 and Pink 5.  .

All I know is the information given on tv before we exited the ship cautioned us that only Lyft vehicles were authorized to enter the terminal.  Glad you had success with Uber.  Our Lyft drop off driver told us to wait at Pink 5 for pick up.  One small section for hundreds to wait for their Lyft pick up. Incredible

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Why the heck does RCI care how people choose to leave the terminal and give an exclusive contract to Lyft? I've never used Lyft and wouldn't even know how. Way to go RCI. Inconvenience your guests during an already stressful time. I'm not impressed. 

 

Edit: Now after reading @brillohead's post, I'm not so sure what the story is. 

Yes, it negatively impacts all passengers no matter who the contract is with.  I'm glad according to Brillo that it isn't enforced. Most of our cruises were out of Galveston.  When leaving the terminal there always was a line of taxis waiting to pick up passengers.  As it should be.  

[TravelGirlinDallas]

10 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

RCI has a contract with Lyft to only allow Lyft exclusive rights to enter the Galveston terminal.  No Uber, no taxis so you can imagine how crowded and confusing it gets waiting for your Lyft to come pick you up. 

I heard that when we were there in November. I was wondering how it was working out for people (we drove our own car). I'm sorry it was such a mess. Seems like they might have anticipated it would be pretty bad to only allow one sort of transportation service in with thousands of people waiting. I wonder how much worse it is for Allure cruises.

 

Sorry your cruise wasn't as great as you hoped. We had a ton of fun on Adventure in November, but we were traveling with a child and didn't go to the pubs/bars. Now that you mention it, I do recall that no one bussed our tables or offered drink refills in the WJ. I guess I didn't notice at the time, even though obviously we would prefer the additional service. A couple of times, we ended up sitting next to the soda machine in the WJ, and from people's comments we learned that it was nearly always empty of most of the choices. That didn't bother us, either, as we didn't have the drink package, but it would have been pretty upsetting if someone had paid for that and couldn't get refills with their meal.

[cruiselvr04]

10 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

OK, now for the nightmare of debarkation.  I forgot if Ozark and Brillo posted their experiences debarking Allure in Galveston.

 

RCI has a contract with Lyft to only allow Lyft exclusive rights to enter the Galveston terminal.  No Uber, no taxis so you can imagine how crowded and confusing it gets waiting for your Lyft to come pick you up.  The weather was cold, windy, nasty.  I only had a hoody jacket and was freezing. Cars kept pulling up and everyone waiting ran to see if it was their Lyft car.  We waited one hour in the cold until our car finally made it to the terminal where we were waiting.  At first we were informed our car would pick us up in 7 minutes.  Nice!  After 10 minutes we were informed all cars were busy with passengers and we would have a 20 minute wait.  We waited 30 minutes and finally got the info of our car's license # and make of car.  How happy we were to learn the car had entered the terminal.  We waited and waited in the cold. windy really windy weather.  After what seemed like forever, Jack got a call from the driver asking our location.  We gave them our specific location and were finally picked up.

 

Oh but it doesn't end there.  All access streets to Seawall Blvd where we had to pick up our car were closed due to the upcoming Mardi Gras parade.  We drove up all streets hoping for an opening but none were available.  We finally made it and I was still shivering even though the car heat was on high the whole way to our car location.

 

So with the somewhat lousy food, the mass of kids, the crowds, the freezing weather leaving the ship, standing on our feet for an hour (operated ankle still gives me trouble) would we cruise again from Galveston?  We would in a NY minute!  However, next time we might garage our car next to the terminal.

 

I was unsuccessful transferring some photos I took to this post.  I'll keep trying.  I need to get more memory on my phone. That might do the trick.

 

Congrats to the Chiefs.  My friends are happy.  Jack didn't have a fave and me?  I stopped watching after half time.  😏

We parked right on the edge of the covered parking outside the terminal and were in our car and on the road at 8:45.  It was quick and easy. If we’d done our own carry off it’d been even faster.  We saw all those waiting for Lyfts.  I think if I was going to fly in I might just take the Royal bus to the airports.  It seems easier from there.

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

55 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Yup, better story line for Mahomes and Reid to win. NFL knew who they wanted to see win the game.

Often wondered if some of these pro sports are somewhat, shall we say, choreographed?  These guys are good enough to accomplish that. 

[BonTexasNY]

2 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We parked right on the edge of the covered parking outside the terminal and were in our car and on the road at 8:45.  It was quick and easy. If we’d done our own carry off it’d been even faster.  We saw all those waiting for Lyfts.  I think if I was going to fly in I might just take the Royal bus to the airports.  It seems easier from there.

 

 

We left our car at our pre cruise hotel for no charge.  Next cruise we'll be sure to leave our car at the terminal.  Lesson learned.  Were you on my Adventure 2/6 cruise?

[cruiselvr04]

5 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

We left our car at our pre cruise hotel for no charge.  Next cruise we'll be sure to leave our car at the terminal.  Lesson learned.  Were you on my Adventure 2/6 cruise?

No Allure. We weren’t overrun with kids but the food was sub par for sure. I definitely didn’t gain any weight so that’s a good thing.  Service was top notch.

[Jimbo]

13 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Often wondered if some of these pro sports are somewhat, shall we say, choreographed?  These guys are good enough to accomplish that. 

Sad to say it's pretty much true. The refs can make any team win if they chose to. None will admit it though.

[Lionesss]

@Ocean Boy

Glad to hear you are on the mend, and Jade who is not only a beautiful cat, but so snuggly by being by your side.

 

 

Now, this talk about sailing out of Galveston really has my attention.

 

Having spent some quality time in the Casino during 2022 on our cruises, and having received an invitation to get a "free" cruise from their point system, we took them up on their offer and since the Allure is our favorite ship, we said what the Hades, lets book her out of Galveston.

 

So after him-hawing around for days and nagging the DH, sad face, and telling how hard he works and he really needs a break.  (His response is we already have 2 cruises booked), but I go, its free???

 

So after a few days of thought provoking on his part, and ( sadder face on my part) off to the TA to book the cruise.

 

Now, the cabin selection was quite vast since it was so early in booking process (Oct. 2022) our choices were kinda nice. But, those sadder eyes of mine won him over and yup, we upgraded to our favorite deck 17.  But since then the prices on cabins have really soared.

 

Flights from Cleveland via a non-stop went to G. Bush airport.

We fly in a day early and got a hotel near this airport.

We are going back to airport to use RCI transportation the day of cruise.

 

We have not read too much about this RCI busing, but hope it is not to painful.

 

So, in the event I do a live thread, I will delve some time to this transfer business.

 

But for now, focusing on the Bella cruise.

The countdown has been on.

Today, air out the suitcases.

Kinda pick clothes, but you know how it goes, always room for more shopping.

 

 

Some thoughts on the Super bowl.

Went to a house party with 5 other couples.

We took a pasta salad and a banana/nut bundt cake with cream cheese frosting, all home made.

We had sliders, pizza, wings, munchies, old fashioned lawsons chip dip. 

And some drinks.

 

The drinks of choice were white wine and lemon martinis.

I am not  a favorite of either.

So I was cool with water.

The DH said the Martinis were good.

 

The women stayed in the kitchen perched around the island, doing what women do, and talked and the boys settled around the TV.

 

I was able to snag a chair in the mens domain 20 seconds before the half time show.

Well, talk about disappointment.

Yes, she is a very talented singer, but the show did nothing for me.

Back to the kitchen.

 

What I took from the Superbowl.

Not much.

I did not see one commercial. 

And we were home to see the last 5 min of the game, in which we enjoyed.

 

 

Other exciting news.

Do you know how hard it is to get in to see a new dentist???

Our dentist retired in 2022

We knew we had to find another, but when you feel good, the last thing on your mind is finding a dentist especially since you were traumatized as child and gave them up.

((((((((BAM))))))))))  Tooth pain.

Dang it, cruise coming up in 4 weeks.

So at our church we found out one of our fellow parishioners has a practice in Brookfield Ohio, which is on the way to Mark and Susan's neck of the woods (@H20Skibums) and I have the honor of going to the dentist this Thursday.  (😔).

Better now then having trouble on the cruise.

 

So, major anticipation, till then.

 

Ok, off to start getting some organizing done.

 

Take care catch you later.

 

 

Mama Lions.

aka, boo boo tooth.

 

[jmh2006]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Would have been a better game if the refs didn't decide the game at the end with that crazy defensive interference call giving the the Chiefs a first down and then running down the clock before kicking the field goal. 

 

Not giving the Eagles the chance to get the ball back with at least 1:45 minutes left to see what they could do to either go down and tie or win the game with a touchdown. If they were given that chance at least then it would have been one of the best Super Bowl Games ever. For the refs to decide the game like that with a ticky tacky call like that was just wrong. There were holds like that on every play of the entire game but to chose to call one there was really bad . If that's a good call there should have been 10 or 12 more holds earlier in the game.

 

The NFL should be a shame of themselves for the Field being such bad condition, everyone slipping so many times. The players couldn't really show their talents  with a playing field that wasn't suited for a game as big as this.

 

I really hope Arizona never gets to host another Super Bowl game again just because of that terrible field, it was a disgrace. Such a big game to be played in those conditions. Really felt bad for the players. They were all saying the field was the worse they have ever played on in all of their football careers.

 

A game as big as the Super Bowl should not now be spoken about as to how bad the field was.

As soon as I saw the players chewing up the field and slipping, I remembered, oh yeah the same thing happened in the Fiesta Bowl this year.  After the first several plays watching the Michigan players slipping all over, I said to my DH and DS, they need to change their cleats!   So, obviously there is a problem at State Farm Stadium.  NFL really screwed this one up, and I didn't care who won as a NYG fan.  I will say the rest of the stadium is very nice.  

[Jimbo]

13 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

As soon as I saw the players chewing up the field and slipping, I remembered, oh yeah the same thing happened in the Fiesta Bowl this year.  After the first several plays watching the Michigan players slipping all over, I said to my DH and DS, they need to change their cleats!   So, obviously there is a problem at State Farm Stadium.  NFL really screwed this one up, and I didn't care who won as a NYG fan.  I will say the rest of the stadium is very nice.  

That makes it even worse, that game was 6 weeks ago...............NFL should have known there was a problem there with the field and been checking on them to get a different supplier of the grass. Seems from what you are saying there was no change of the grass they were using.

 

Changing cleats only helps so much, the (grass surface) was just giving way and not holding firm. After the halftime show they had an army of people out on the field replacing all the divots.

 

I think I heard during the broadcast  last night this grass was put down just 2 weeks prior to the Super Bowl game yesterday.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Jimbo

[TravelGirlinDallas]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

No problem,  I haven’t mentioned it much.  I don't think I ever mentioned the fall on my eye. I almost posted a pic of the black but it's gross..  I was hoping I would be recovering quicker. 

I am so sorry about the falls you've been experiencing. What is causing the weakness in your legs?

[sgmn]

Just went for a walk with molly. We took a different route than normal, very very rural, lots of fields and horses. Whilst on the walk my son was walking his dog in our normal woods and heard a loud bang. He thought it was the army range a few miles away, but turns out it was a very bad accident by the entrance to the woods. He said both cars were wrecked. A few minutes later we heard the air ambulance coming in so it must of been bad. Very sad, hoping there were no life changing injuries 😢 🙏 

[sgmn]

A couple of pics from our walk.

 

[h20skibum]

30 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

So at our church we found out one of our fellow parishioners has a practice in Brookfield Ohio, which is on the way to Mark and Susan's neck of the woods (@H20Skibums) and I have the honor of going to the dentist this Thursday.  (😔).

We are so lucky, we get to visit our dentist tomorrow morning for our routine cleaning. We had to find a new one also, when ours retired during the pandemic. 
 

He is way too thorough, so I am sure he will find something with one of us.  

[Keksie]

My thoughts on the Super Bowl.  I wanted the Chiefs to win because I like Mahomes.  I don't understand football enough to have thoughts about the refs calls.  I like some of Rhianna's songs but I didn't like the halftime show.  I would have liked it better if she had just sang a few of her songs without all the marshmallow people bouncing around the field.  None of the commercials stood out to me as being cute or clever.  Still not interested in getting an electric car anytime in the next 20 years or so.  

 

We had cheeseburger dip in garlic rolls.  New recipe and my husband loved it.  You put lettuce and pickles on it so it was healthy.  LOL.  I also made brownies.  Super yummy.

 

I was late getting home from the refuge because there was a turtle stranding call so it left just two of us to get everything done.  Had to give opossum a bath and set up a pool for a cormorant.  It is getting busy with baby squirrel season.  Three calls yesterday.  So far they are all at the foster home.  

[Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, Keksie said:

My thoughts on the Super Bowl.  I wanted the Chiefs to win because I like Mahomes.  I don't understand football enough to have thoughts about the refs calls.  I like some of Rhianna's songs but I didn't like the halftime show.  I would have liked it better if she had just sang a few of her songs without all the marshmallow people bouncing around the field.  None of the commercials stood out to me as being cute or clever.  Still not interested in getting an electric car anytime in the next 20 years or so.  

 

We had cheeseburger dip in garlic rolls.  New recipe and my husband loved it.  You put lettuce and pickles on it so it was healthy.  LOL.  I also made brownies.  Super yummy.

 

I was late getting home from the refuge because there was a turtle stranding call so it left just two of us to get everything done.  Had to give opossum a bath and set up a pool for a cormorant.  It is getting busy with baby squirrel season.  Three calls yesterday.  So far they are all at the foster home.  

more info please on Cheeseburger Dip in Garlic Rolls?

[xpcdoojk]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Why the heck does RCI care how people choose to leave the terminal and give an exclusive contract to Lyft? I've never used Lyft and wouldn't even know how. Way to go RCI. Inconvenience your guests during an already stressful time. I'm not impressed. 

 

Edit: Now after reading @brillohead's post, I'm not so sure what the story is. 

OB, glad to hear you are improving, your Covid sounds like mine before Xmas after getting off the Harmony sailing, as symptoms starting the day after flying home.  

 

We sailed the Adventure out of the old terminal, not the new RCI terminal in Galveston, our Uber driver said that she might not be able to take us to the door, but generally when she showed up early it wasn’t a problem (we arrived after 10 approx 10:30), she showed us where she is supposed to drop us.  It would have been a 5 to 10 minute walk, max.  Many Uber drivers do Lyft as well but Uber generally pays them more.  I use Uber because I get a monthly $15 credit on Uber with my Amex Platinum card.  That said, Lyft is equally easy to use with the app.  

 

I do not believe the same restrictions affect the new terminal, but have no first hand knowledge.  Galveston is a good port, but it is a bit of a challenge to get to Galveston since most fly into Houston.  Hobby is not too far, but George Bush is a long way away. 

 

I made the DW a special Red Sea Breeze before the kick off while I was air-frying some yummy chicken wings, and I had a Southern Peach, also Red (key ingredient obviously cranberry juice), it was a very entertaining game, even though my team was being systematically kept off the field in the first half.  There were 3 calls regarding catching the ball that were reasons why I am not a huge football fan.  2 went the Eagles way.  Then there was the missed penalty doing a flagrant hold/pass interference in the first half against Bradberry, and then the one at the end of the game that finished the game which was a bit ticky tacky. Officiating is bad, and instant reply just makes it worse.  JMHO

 

jc

[George C]

I enjoyed the game even though I was totally sober 😁, since I couldn’t drink and very limited on what I can eat we skipped our friends super bowl party which we attended for 20 years, he recently retired but was a chef his entire life and food was always great . Back to dentist today .

[xpcdoojk]

10 hours ago, Coralc said:

Correction Opus One is Mondavi, and invitation only. Francis Ford Coppola has his own winery and restaurant. https://www.francisfordcoppolawinery.com/  His onsite restaurant is "Rustic" . It looks interesting, but we have never been to either one.  https://www.francisfordcoppolawinery.com/dine-at-the-winery

 

Stupid time limit. Plus, it ate my other links. 🙄 Most people probably type faster than I do.

I have visited Coppola a few times, used to be a club member.  Nice property, have not eaten at the restaurant.  Coppola makes some very good wine (Rubicon is on par with Opus).  Opus One is a Mondavi/Rothschild winery.  We visited it 30 years ago.  Love the wine, hate paying for them.  

 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

36 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I am so sorry about the falls you've been experiencing. What is causing the weakness in your legs?

I am not sure yet. I have been guessing statins.  My doctor did blood tests a few weeks ago.  All looked good related to muscles.  I got off of statins at the end of December.  I am giving to the end of next month.  If no improvement I will see a specialist. 

[DaniDanielle]

Good luck at the dentist @George C

[DaniDanielle]

I enjoyed the commercial with my Scrub guys and John Travolta.  I guess, being pregnant, Rihanna toned down her act!

[xpcdoojk]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Thanks so much for this.  I just finished booking everything yesterday.  Napa has changed A LOT since I was last there (20+ years ago??).  All wineries now require a reservation and the cheapest tasting that we're doing is $60 per person. 😧  For our 2 full days in Napa, we're doing a hot air balloon ride the first morning, followed by tastings and tours at Laird Family Estate and Baldacci Family Vineyards (cousins with David Baldacci) in the afternoon.  The second day, we'll start at Castello di Amorosa and then work our way back down to Yountville (where we are staying) with stops at Del Dotto Estate Winery and Grgich Hills Estate.  We decided to go with smaller wineries that have great views/facilities and get great reviews.  

 

We were not able to get reservations at the French Laundry.  Apparently, you need to get lucky and make reservations there in advance whenever you can, and then schedule the rest of your trip around the reservation.  We're eating at the Bouchon Bistro (French...another Thomas Keller restaurant) on night 1 and Bottega Napa Valley (Italian) on night 2.  We also have reservations in San Francisco at Fang (Chinese).  Micheline wants to eat there because of the House of Fang TV show.  I'm looking forward to the food as much as the wine!

 

Yes, Napa, is full on nuts, found that out on our last trip in 2018.  Paying for tastings, beyond a minimal charge really makes it less appealing.  We did a testing on our lat trip to Temecula before thanksgiving, and it was a great experience with our own private session on a patio overlooking the fields and mountains.  Lovely, we did a few free ones the next day, of the traditional kind.  Free ones are rapidly becoming a historic oddity.  We loved our balloon ride in Napa back in 2006.  

 

JC

[TravelGirlinDallas]

There was one commercial that made us laugh out loud, it was a commercial for *something* I now can't remember, but it was phrased like it was for *****. Edited: LOL, I guess V*agra is a bad word on CC. Perhaps I should say, an ED medication. Only it wasn't for that at all. Just suggestive as if it was. It was so funny.

 

The Bennifer Dunkin' commercial was funny, too. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by TravelGirlinDallas

[Keksie]

50 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

more info please on Cheeseburger Dip in Garlic Rolls?

| Food Network

 

It is a Pioneer Woman Recipe.  I didn't put the toppings on but had them on the side to put on each sandwich.  I also used bakery buns, brushed with garlic butter and baked for a few minutes in the oven until the butter melted.